City inflicted Lakers’ second defeat of the season at Eureka Stadium on Saturday – 18.14 (122) to 12.11 (83).

North Ballarat opened up with a seven-goal first quarter and then resisted a fight back by Lake Wendouree before kicking away.

With Redan and Sunbury also emphatic winners in round 14, the battle for third position remains a pressure cooker.

Sunbury, North Ballarat City and Redan are locked on 40 points with four rounds remaining.

The Lake Wendouree loss has also opened up the battle for the minor premiership.

Only three weeks ago Lakers were undefeated and had a three-game break over nearest rival Bacchus Marsh.

Losses to Darley and now North Ballarat City in its past three outings means that if Bacchus Marsh beats East Point at Maddingley Park on Sunday just one win will separate the top two teams.

The Cobras and Lakers meet in the last round, and with Bacchus Marsh having the superior percentage it could yet claim the minor premiership.

Lake Wendouree has shown the impact of injuries to key players  –  Nathan Pring, Ben Hayes, Tom Carey, Lucas Anderson and Tom Littore – and it has shown with the two losses and two narrow wins.

For North Ballarat City, the victory is a strong response to its previous outing when it lost to Redan and reinforces how hard it is to beat at home, with it having rolled Sunbury at the ground three rounds ago.

SUNBURY easily accounted for Melton at Melton – 13.16 (94) to 6.6 (42) – and Redan was in a different class to reigning premier Darley – 22.15 (147) to 8.3 (51).

Despite the defeats, Melton and Darley remain firmly in contention for sixth position and a finals campaign.

The Devils have dropped to seventh and despite losing has climbed to sixth, but East Point can change that if it beats Bacchus Marsh for a second time on Sunday.

The Kangaroos are one game behind Darley and Melton, but with a better percentage.

What Sunbury and Redan did reinforce though is that if either Melton or Darley make the finals, they are unlikely to make an impact.

SEBASTOPOL revelled in the mud at Marty Busch Reserve to run away with the points against Melton South –  14.10 (94) to 2.8 (20).

Michael Powell kicked six goals in difficult conditions.

The Panthers had their share of play, but were unable to impose any scoreboard pressure.

This gives the Burra three wins in what has been a breakout year after going winless for two seasons and winning once last season.

LADDER

 LAKE WENDOUREE 48 145.08 

 *BACCHUS MARSH 40 183.61 

 SUNBURY 40 146.16 

 REDAN 40 141.82 40

 NORTH BALLARAT CITY 40 138.60

 MELTON 28 89.72

 *East Point  24 105.67 

 Ballarat 24 68.01

 Sebastopol 16 59.72

 Melton South 4 38.84

* Bacchus Marsh v East Point on Sunday